Artists:Ensuring your artwork is displayed at its best in an online gallery

Browse the web for artists and it soon becomes apparent that there is a broad spectrum in terms of quality, not only in the artwork (!) but also in the way it is displayed. The following pointers will go someway towards you having a better site.

Start off with the best digital photos you can make or get of your artwork.

Use descriptive file names for web pictures and also provide an alternative descriptive text. This will help people find your pictures when they are searching for images with particular key words online.

Decide on a neutral background colour for the webpage on which the pictures will appear, to set them off at their best. Consider how the mount and frame can make or break a picture and transfer the principle to the web. For example with Heather Maunders' site, a dark background worked well.

Give each picture its own space. In a gallery there is sufficient room between pictures to show each off at its best. A compromise is to have a page of thumbnails which each link to one picture on a separate page. See Hugh Hales-Tooke's site with large thumbnails, and his alternative Frames view.

Go for a site where, once the template has been created, it is easy for you to add new picture and content yourself (some blog templates, such as Blogger through Google, make very effective update-able but simple sites for beginners).

Other web strategies with your pictures are to use online albums such as Picasaweb, which also allow you to incorporate slide-shows into your web pages or blogs (as I have done on this page).

Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter also give you new ways to keep in touch with fans, friends and customers; you can upload picture directly or provide links to your newest gallery additions online.

If you found this information useful, please send me a comment and a link to your new web pages so that I can possibly place them below this text. to share with others. Do become a facebook or twitter friend (I'm with them as as Chris Thomas and miltoncontact respectively).